Comprehensive salary data, cost of living, and employment information for Austin, Texas. Population: 978,908.
Reviewed by Alexander O.M., MBA, BSc Engineering•Updated
Austin's $80,954 median household income is well above the national average and has grown faster than any other Texas metro over the past decade, driven by the city's emergence as one of the most concentrated tech-employment hubs in the country outside of the Bay Area and Seattle. The corporate-relocation story is structural: Tesla relocated its headquarters to Austin in 2021, Oracle's new campus opened there, and Apple has expanded its Austin campus into a 6,000-person operation. Meta, Google, Amazon, and Samsung all operate substantial engineering facilities in the metro. The University of Texas at Austin anchors a large research-and-education workforce. The cost-of-living index of 108 runs modestly above the national average, with housing costs having risen sharply since 2019 — median home prices in Travis County now exceed $550,000, well above the Texas state average. Texas's no-state-income-tax regime improves effective take-home at every income level, and combined with the high nominal salaries, Austin's effective purchasing power for tech workers is among the strongest in the US. Property taxes are high (effective rates around 1.9% in Travis County). Full breakdown below.
Median Individual
$47,208
per year
Median Household
$80,954
per year
Cost of Living
108
Average (US avg = 100)
Population
1K
Salary Breakdown for Austin
The median individual income in Austin is $47,208 per year, which works out to approximately $3,934/month or $22.70/hour for full-time workers. The median household income is $80,954.
Cost of Living Adjusted Salary
Austin's cost of living index is 108 (national average = 100). The median salary of $47,208 in Austin has the purchasing power of approximately $43,711 at the national average cost of living. Austin is roughly in line with the national average, making it a balanced option for salary vs expenses.